Driver and passenger seats in vehicles such as locomotives and cars, for example, which are capable of fore/aft displacement and rotation, are well known in the art.
For example, the Applicant knows of PCT application WO 2010/083607 A1 which describes a seat assembly for pivoting and displacing the seat forward and backward within a vehicle. The assembly includes a seat track assembly which connects to the seat cushion for providing fore and aft sliding motion.
Vehicle seats are generally installed to a mounting base/column or the vehicle floor during assembly of the vehicle and can also be removed for maintenance or other purposes. Solutions for facilitating the installation and removal of vehicle seats have been the subject of much prior art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,037 to Garrido et al. describes a quick install for a seat without using threaded fasteners. The seat must first be laid with anchor pins and the floor attachment aligned. Then, each anchor must be manipulated with a special tool either for locking or for unlocking the seat, depending on the specific embodiment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,562 to Christofferson et al. describes a quick-release seat assembly for a light seat. The seat must be brought entirely above the base before being successfully laid onto the attachment interface.
Also known to the Applicant is U.S. Pat. No. 7,413,371 to Arnold et al. which describes a quick special fastener to connect a seat to a vehicle structure. The fastener is not an integrated part of the seat system and must be adapted to the particular vehicle structure it is being used with. Each anchor must be manipulated before the seat can be uninstalled.
GB 2 419 854 and EP 0459173 A2 describe a floor anchor system for a vehicle which allows for multiple installation configurations, for example. These inventions relate more to configuration versatility rather than installation per se. The Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,683,140 and 7,837,260 B2, as well as Japanese patent applications JP 2006298235 and JP 2007112175.
It is also known to provide an upper seat interface for a vehicle seat, such as for a locomotive driver seat which has a quick, simple and easy connection, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,102 granted to the Applicant. The chair assembly integrates one or two removable limits onto laterally extending channels, the limits being used to maintain the seat base plate mounted with bearings into the said channels. When the limits are removed by a maintenance crew, the upper seat can be easily removed from its base. This constitutes a quick installation system. However, because the chair assembly provides fore-aft motion, if the limits are not reinstalled properly, there exists the risk that the vehicle operator could be injured by a fall while trying to adjust his seat fore or aft.
Also known to the Applicant are child vehicle seats, which are often sold in two parts: a base portion that is secured with anchors or to a seatbelt, and a seat portion that connects to the base portion allowing the seat to face forward or backward in the vehicle. For example, the Applicant is aware of such vehicle seats sold by Graco Children's Products Inc. (Pennsylvania, USA).
Thus, although the prior art teaches vehicle seats, and components and methods for installing and removing them, there exist substantial drawbacks associated with such conventional systems and techniques, such as: 1) conventional seats must be carefully aligned with their base mounts which requires much time and can be physically demanding on the technician; 2) the seat is not secured when placed on the mounting base and requires fasteners to properly secure it, which reduces the safety of the uninstalled seat for both technicians and operators; 3) the installation and removal of seats requires manipulation and alignment of fasteners, which is time consuming; 4) raising the seat over the mounting base repeatedly can lead to injury and health issues for operators; etc.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved seat connector and method for installing the same, which by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the aforementioned prior art problems.